Modern wireless communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)) and networks must support more frequency bands and technologies than ever before. In order to benefit from all this available network bandwidth and capacity, each device must be aware of what is available while camping and/or before voice or data calls or other communication transactions are made. In complex multi-technology and frequency band scenarios, associated UE may scan, for example, 3 different technologies across 4 different frequency bands. Such can be especially important for device-driven network technology selection and display techniques. Moreover, lacking proactive information about available networks, smart network selection techniques are slow or otherwise less functional.
According to traditional network scanning techniques, devices periodically scan various frequency bands and technologies, then select and camp on the best one identified. Such scanning typically requires receiver and battery resources while the UE is otherwise idle. If scanning is too frequent, battery standby time is reduced. On the other hand, if scanning is too infrequent, the UE can lack real-time awareness of the surrounding networks and may make incorrect selection decisions. Either result is sub-optimal.